New Zealand has no mandatory qualification requirement for piercers. Anyone can open a studio and begin piercing clients without completing any formal training, demonstrating any knowledge of sterilisation, or using appropriate materials. The gap between the best and worst practice in the industry is accordingly wide — wider than most clients realise when they book.
In this environment, voluntary professional membership carries real weight. AUPP membership is the most reliable external signal available to New Zealand clients that a studio or piercer has committed to a defined standard of practice.
What AUPP is
AUPP stands for the Australasian Union of Professional Piercers. It is the regional professional body for piercers in Australia and New Zealand, affiliated with the APP — the Association of Professional Piercers — which is the global standard-setter for the industry, based in the United States.
The APP has operated since 1994 and has established detailed standards covering sterilisation, jewellery materials, needle technique, anatomy assessment, and continuing education. AUPP adopts and operates to these standards in the Australasian context. Membership in AUPP connects a piercer to this framework and to the continuing education resources the APP provides.
What AUPP membership requires
AUPP membership is not a subscription. It represents a commitment to specific practice standards across several areas:
- Sterilisation: Members must use validated autoclave sterilisation for all reusable instruments and store sterile items appropriately. Single-use items must be used once and discarded. Cross-contamination protocols must be maintained throughout every procedure.
- Jewellery materials: Members commit to using only appropriate materials for healing piercings — ASTM F136 implant-grade titanium, solid gold (14k or higher), 950 platinum, niobium, or glass. Materials that are not safe for healing tissue — surgical steel without implant-grade specification, acrylic, plated metals — are not acceptable for use in healing piercings by AUPP members.
- Needle technique: Members use single-use sterile needles. Piercing guns are not compatible with AUPP membership standards. Guns cannot be sterilised between clients and cause blunt-force trauma to tissue rather than the clean tissue passage a needle produces.
- Continuing education: Members are expected to stay current with developments in sterilisation science, materials safety, and piercing technique. The APP publishes updated guidelines and members are expected to apply them.
- Client interaction: Members commit to providing anatomy assessments before piercing, evidence-based aftercare guidance, and honest communication about what a piercing requires.
Meeting these standards requires investment — in equipment, in materials, in time, and in ongoing education. A studio operating to AUPP standards costs more to run than one that does not. This is reflected in pricing, and it is reflected in outcomes.
Why it matters as a selection criterion
The absence of statutory regulation in New Zealand means clients cannot rely on government oversight to ensure a studio is operating safely. There is no licensing requirement, no mandatory inspection regime, and no enforced standard for jewellery materials or sterilisation. A studio can legally use a piercing gun, unsterilised equipment, and inappropriate jewellery materials on paying clients in New Zealand without legal consequence.
In this context, AUPP membership functions as the most reliable available external indicator that a studio has chosen to operate to a professional standard. It is not proof of perfection — membership is a floor, not a ceiling — but it establishes a meaningful baseline that unaffiliated studios have not committed to.
When evaluating a piercing studio in any New Zealand city, AUPP membership is the most efficient first filter. It narrows the field to studios that have at least committed to the minimum professional standards the industry itself has defined.
What AUPP doesn't guarantee
Membership establishes minimum standards. It does not guarantee the highest possible practice, the most experienced piercer, or the best outcome for your specific anatomy. Two AUPP studios can differ significantly in piercer skill, jewellery quality, consultation depth, and overall approach — and still both meet the membership requirements.
Use AUPP membership as a starting point, not the only criterion. Beyond it, ask about jewellery brands stocked, sterilisation equipment, piercer experience, and the studio's approach to anatomy assessment. A studio that handles these questions with fluency and transparency is operating to a higher standard than one that deflects or provides vague answers.
How Platinum Point goes further
Both Thomas Manning and Kat Thurlow hold AUPP membership. AUPP membership is a requirement for all piercers at Platinum Point — it is the floor, not the ceiling of what we require.
Thomas's background as a Clinical Trials Aseptic Pharmacy Technician brings sterilisation and contamination control protocols drawn from clinical pharmacy practice — a more rigorous framework than general piercing convention. The pharmaceutical-grade sterilisation protocols we operate to at our Parnell studio go beyond what AUPP standards require.
All jewellery at Platinum Point is BVLA — Body Vision Los Angeles. Solid 14k and 18k gold and 950 platinum with genuine stones, handcrafted in Los Angeles to exacting specification. We carry no entry-level options and no unbranded jewellery. We are New Zealand's only exclusive BVLA studio and hold the largest BVLA inventory in the country.
Our appointment-only model ensures every client receives a full consultation and anatomy assessment before any piercing proceeds. We do not walk-in pierce. The time this creates for each appointment is the time required to do the work properly.
Auckland Magazine named us the best piercing studio in Auckland. The credentials behind that recognition are verifiable: AUPP membership, clinical sterilisation protocols, exclusively BVLA jewellery, and a studio environment that is explicitly welcoming to all clients.
How to verify AUPP membership
The AUPP maintains a publicly accessible directory of members. Ask any studio directly whether their piercers hold AUPP membership — reputable studios will confirm without hesitation and will often be able to direct you to the directory listing. A studio that is evasive or uncertain about its membership status is not a studio that has prioritised professional standards.
Verification takes thirty seconds. It is worth doing before any appointment.
Frequently asked questions
Is AUPP membership required by law in NZ?
No. AUPP membership is entirely voluntary. New Zealand has limited statutory regulation of piercing — there is no mandatory qualification or licensing requirement for piercers. This is precisely why voluntary membership in a body with defined practice standards carries meaningful weight. It represents a choice to operate to a professional standard in the absence of any legal obligation to do so.
Do both Platinum Point piercers hold AUPP membership?
Yes. Both Thomas Manning and Kat Thurlow are AUPP members. AUPP membership is a requirement for all piercers working at Platinum Point — not an optional or aspirational credential.
Should I only book at AUPP studios?
AUPP membership is a strong positive indicator and a reliable starting point. It is not the only criterion worth applying. Also ask about jewellery materials (implant-grade titanium or solid gold for healing piercings), sterilisation method (autoclave, spore-tested, individually packaged instruments), and needle versus gun. A studio that answers these questions clearly and correctly is operating to professional standards — AUPP membership and rigorous practice usually go together, but the questions are worth asking regardless.